HOWTO: Invoke Silent MDAC or DA SDK 2.0 Redistribution

ID: Q192009

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Data Access Components versions 2.0, 2.1 SP2
Microsoft Data Access SDK, version 2.0

SUMMARY

The redistribution for Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) version 2.x is essentially a setup program encapsulated within another setup program. The outer setup provides a single .exe which, when run, extracts the contents needed for the inner setup and then invoke the setup. Subsequently, to control the behavior of the redistribution, you need to invoke it with command line switches that control both inner and outer setups. For example, this article explains how to invoke a silent install, or even to suppress the restart that would otherwise occur when the inner setup concludes running.

MORE INFORMATION

The following samples apply to any of the MDAC redistribution programs for versions 2.0 or 2.1 SP2:


      mdac_typ.exe - Installs the full MDAC 2.0 2.x stack of components, drivers and providers.

To make the MDAC redistribution run unattended you use the "/Q" command. By default, this passes on "/Q" to the inner setup. If you want to change the inner setup options, you override the default command by using the outer setups /c: option.

The tips in this article do not apply to the Data Access 2.x SDK setup.

The installation of Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) writes to the RunOnce registry key, which usually means that the computer must be restarted for the installation to complete. To have an unattended installation that does NOT automatically restart, you can use the following command:


   <mdac_type.exe> /q /C:"setup /QN1"

This runs the inner setup in unattended mode and is not automatically rebooted. If you really want a minimalist user interface (UI), you can use the following command:


   <mdac_type.exe> /q /C:"setup /QNT"

To extract the inner setup into a directory, you would use the following command:


   <mdac_type.exe> /t:<path> /c

Outer Setup Command Line Options

You can determine the command line options of the outer setup through the following statement:

Command line options for the outer setup include:


   /Q            - Quiet modes for package.
   /T:<fullpath> - Specifies Temporary Working folder.
   /C            - Extract files only to folder when used with /t.
   /C:<cmd>      - Override install command defined by author.

After extracting the inner setup to a temporary directory, you can use the following command to extract the command line options:


    setup /?

Command line options for the inner setup include the following:


   Command Line Option      Description
   -----------------------------------------------------------------------

   /A                       Administrator Mode.

   /G <filename>            Generate logfile of installation activity.

   /Q[0|1|T]                Quiet install mode (0 shows exit, 1 hides exit,
                            T hides all display).

   /QN[1|T]                 Quiet install mode with reboot suppressed.

   /R                       Reinstall application (MDAC 1.5 Redistribution
                            only)

   /U[A]                    Uninstall the application but leaves shared
                            components (/UA to remove all).

   /X <filename>            Set network log location for tracking install
                            instances.

   /Y                       Install without copying files.

REFERENCES

For more information, please look at the following Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/Data/MDAC21Info/MDACinstQ.htm

Additional query words: kbDatabase kbSDKDataAc kbSetup kbMDAC

Keywords : kbMDAC kbGrpVBDB kbGrpMDAC kbDSupport kbMDAC210SP2
Version : WINDOWS:2.0,2.1 SP2
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type : kbhowto